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Abuja, Nigeria; 13 August 2015: Director General of the ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, has emphasised the usefulness of getting the private sector involved in the provision of national security infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships. He expressed this view while presenting a lecture titled “Infrastructure and National Development: Implication for National Security” to participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 8 at the Institute for Security Studies, Abuja. According to Mr. Diko, who was represented by Mr. Chiedu Ndubuisi, Technical Adviser DG, the trend the world over has seen countries actively involve the private sector in the provision of infrastructure that is required for national security among other uses. He recalled that ICRC had guidedthe successful concession arrangement between Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Global West Vessels Ltd for a 24 hour satellite the surveillance of the entire Nigeria maritime domain and coastal areas. Diko said the Nigerian Infrastructure Integrated Master Plan has estimated that about 48% of the infrastructure spend for Nigeria estimated at USD3 trillion over the next 30 years will be financed through PPP. The infrastructure spend on the construction of 3,000 new police stations, 1000 new prisons, and 170 new barracks will require private finance. On the issue of curbing terrorism, he said Nigeria can adopt the Brazilian model of an Operations Command Centre in the city of Rio which has a state-of - the art surveillance office that monitors activities in the city.

The Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr Aminu Diko has stressed the need for MDAs to subject their public private partnership endeavours to the regulatory oversight of the Commission to ensure the projects attract potential private investors. Mr. Diko made this known when he received the Vice Chancellor, and members of the management team of the University of Abuja who paid a familiarization visit to the Commission. According to the DG, ICRC, “it is only in an atmosphere of transparency and competitiveness and where the best private sector proponent emerges the preferred bidder that the PPP objectives can be achieved. He further said that in the circumstances the country has found itself, it has no option than to partner with the private sector to provide needed infrastructure services. “The beauty of PPP is that the private sector comes with scarce capital and innovation and has the added ability to deliver on time and according to specifications”. Speaking earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Michael Adikwu, while explaining the basis for the visit, disclosed that the University management is seeking to embark on PPP arrangements with private institutions to develop projects like hostels and ancillary services that would benefit the students and the university community. He said the vast expanse of land within the university’s territory is yearning for development, and the private sector could key into this. In the meantime both parties had agreed to the setting up of a joint team to determine which projects would benefit from public-private partnership.

Abuja, Nigeria; 30 July 2015: Director General of the ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, has expressed the readiness of the Commission to cooperate with other agencies of government and the private sector towards the provision of basic infrastructure services through PPP. He expressed this position while playing host to the Executive Director/CEO and members of the management team of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), who paid him a courtesy visit, Thursday. While welcoming his guests, he explained that the role of the ICRC is principally to regulate the procurement of infrastructure services through Public Private Partnership. According to him, the private sector has been more actively involved in the provision of medical services in recent years, citing the successful concession arrangement between the Federal Capital Territory Administration and Garki General Hospital. He however admonished his guests to be painstaking in following through all necessary steps for a successful PPP. In his words, ‘patience is required to develop projects through the stages of PPP. Patience is also required to access private sector funds’. He proposed the setting up of a joint team to explore areas of possible cooperation. Speaking earlier, the Executive Director, CEO of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Mohammad, listed the mandate of the agency to include the provision and regulation of primary healthcare centres across the country. According to him, the agency also partners states and Local Government Councils in providing basic health services through advocacy at the grassroot level. He disclosed that the NPHCDA had set up a PPP unit within the agency and solicited the support of the ICRC in the area of expertise and capacity building for the unit. According to him, among the recent milestones achieved by his agency is the successful handling of the ebola issue, and the remarkable feat of achieving a full year without a recorded case of polio in the country. He disclosed further, that NPHCDA under his watch, successfully set up the Nigerian Private Sector Health Alliance, a private sector led initiative, headed by Alhaji Aliko Dangote. While soliciting the cooperation of the ICRC in getting the private sector to invest in the provision of mobile clinics and primary healthcare centres, he disclosed that there are currently about 400 functional healthcare centres across the country that would benefit from private sector intervention in the provision and operation of the facilities.